Dear John and List Members: My name is Blake Bell. I am Deputy Town Historian of the Town of Pelham, New York where German and British troops fought against American Soldiers led by Col. John Glover in the Battle of Pelham (a/k/a the Battle of Pell's Point) on October 18, 1776. I have been researching information regarding my G-G-G-G-G-G-Grandfather, Jakob Holzapfel who served as a Private, 4. Comp., Hesse-Kassel Regt. Erbprinz, on Muster Roll 0/1775 (HETRINA III, #8113-14). I am grateful for the assistance Messrs. Merz, Brooks and others have provided to me via this list. In return, I write to alert list members to a wonderful article recently published by David Osborn, Site Manager of St. Paul's Church National Historic Site in Mount Vernon, NY. St. Paul's, only half built at the time, was used as a field hospital for the German and British Troops following the Battle of Pelham while they regrouped for the move to New Rochelle and then Northwest for the Battle of White Plains on October 28, 1776. For many years there has stood in the graveyard behind the church a monument marking the burial of unknown Hessian soldiers. The monument reads: "This Marks the Site of the Sand Pit in Which Are Buried Those Hessian Soldiers Who Died in the Church When Used as a Hospital 1776. Erected by Bronx Charter D.A.R. 1910". A recent photograph of the memorial is located here: http://www.historicpelham.com/Markers/MemHessians.htm. In the Winter 2004 quarterly publication known as The Westchester Historian published by the Westchester County Historical Society, there is a wonderful article by Mr. Osborn entitled Who Were the Hessians? I highly recommend the article! Here is a full citation to the article: Osborn, David, Who Were the Hessians, The Westchester Historian, Vol. 80, No. 1, pp. 4-11 (Winter 2004). To read more about the publication, go here: http://www.westchesterhistory.com/Pubs3.html Mr. Osborn's article states, in part, at page 8 as follows (footnotes omitted): "Estimates of the number of soldiers buried in the pit sometimes reached 100, but the actual number seems to have been much smaller. In fact, a search for more information about the men buried there led to a recent discovery. "Records housed at the Hessian state archives in Marburg, Germany, indicate that five men from the Regiment von Knyphausen "sind an Kranheit im Lazarett vor New York gestorben" or "died from illness in hospital outside New York," in October and November 1776. This information corresponds with the regiment's occupation of the half-completed church, making it very probable that the remains of those five soldiers are interred in the sand pit at the back of St. Paul's Cemetery. "The five soldiers were all privates, ranging in age from 21 to 28 years old, as follows: Heinrich Euler, born in 1749, from the town of Gehau in Hessen, a private serving in the third company of the Regiment von Knyphausen; Conrad Roth, born in 1753, from the town of Friedigerode in Hessen, a private serving in the second company of the Regiment von Knyphausen; Johann Heinrich Grein, born January 3, 1755, from the town of Mengsberg in Hessen, a private serving in the fourth company of the Regiment von Knyphausen. Information obtained from the church archives in Mengsberg showed that Grein was confirmed in the local Protestant church in 1769 at the age of 14, and that his parents, Johannes and Anna Martha, had been married in 1742. Additionally, there was Daniel Schaef, born in 1754, from the town of Treysa, a private serving in the fifth company of the Regiment von Knyphausen, and Ludwig Juppert, a private in the Regiment von Knyphausen." I hope this information is of interest and assistance to many of you following Mr. Merz's important Listserv! I am always very, very interested to learn as much as possible regarding the movements of the Hesse-Kassel Regt. Erbprinz between about October 12, 1776 and October 28, 1776 since I am interested in the odd coincidence that my G-G-G-G-G-G-Grandfather, Jakob Holzapfel, likely fought within a few miles of the location I have chosen for my home! Best regards, Blake A. Bell

My ancestor fought in Pelham. In the "Battle of White Plains" , Monday, October 28, 1776 there were over 1,000 dead as reported in the diary of Captain Johann Ewald, who counted the bodies after the battle. Wonder where all those bodies were buried? The translation of Ewald's diary was done by the late Joseph Tustin. More details at the web site below. My Hessian ancestor at: http://members.tripod.com/~Silvie/Schilling.html Ed Maul Westchester County Genealogical Society (WCGS)

Ed Maul wrote -- <<clip>>My ancestor fought in Pelham. In the "Battle of White Plains" , Monday, October 28, 1776 there were over 1,000 dead as reported in the diary of Captain Johann Ewald, who counted the bodies after the battle.<clip> According to Robert Beatson, _Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain from 1727 to 1783_ (London, 1804), vol. 6, pp. 58-62, casuaties were reported for the period, (1) 17 Sep to 18 Oct 1776, including the action at Pelham Manor on the latter date; (2) from 19 Oct to 28 Oct 1776, including "passing the Brunks River," and (3) from 29 Oct to 16 Nov 1776 including the storming of Fort Wahington. In (1) there was no listing for casualties for the Hessians and the British casualties were quite light -- 13 killed, 46 wounded and 4 missing. In (2) [which includes "The Battle of White Plains"] The Biritsh losses were 63 kiled (+ 5 horse killed), 146 wounded (+ 4 horses), and 37 missing. The Hessian losses were 12 killed (+ 1 horse), 63 wounded, and 23 missing. * of the missing were captured on Staten Island on 15 Oct 1776. In (3) the number are sbstantial as ths incled Fort Wahington. The British had 20 killed, 102 wounded, and 6 missing. The Hessians had 58 killed and 272! wounded of which Regt. "Wuttginaw" [i.e., Landgraf Regiment] had 16 killed and 64 wounded, Regiment v. Knyphausen had 7 killed & 66 wounded, and Genadier Battalion Köhler had 6 killed and 35 wounded. Bob Brooks

Hello dear Blake, and hello list members; Yesterday was a real tough day for me. I worked my typing fingers to the bone, and that all to let you know of coming events and alerting the many hundreds of Hessian descendants to come and visit us at the Rose House Museum. It was very gratifying for me to see that I was not the only one working hard, dear Blake, this was indeed a real important contribution of yours, and I am happy about, in fact, so happy that I am writing this posting despite my sore fingertips from yesterday. And btw. what you see on this mailing list from me, is only the tip of the iceberg, because I have been working the Rootsweb Message Boards mostly, those with Hessian connections to the Marysburgh, Bay of Quinte area. And the responses are great - just been told that descendants of Jacob Dehnert/Dainard are coming from British Columbia to our event. Makes me so happy that we are thinking of our Hessian ancestors. Yours truly John Helmut Merz ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bell, Blake A" <bbell@stblaw.com> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 7:34 AM > Dear John and List Members: > > My name is Blake Bell. I am Deputy Town Historian of the Town of Pelham, New York where German and British troops fought against American Soldiers led by Col. John Glover in the Battle of Pelham (a/k/a the Battle of Pell's Point) on October 18, 1776. I have been researching information regarding my G-G-G-G-G-G-Grandfather, Jakob Holzapfel who served as a Private, 4. Comp., Hesse-Kassel Regt. Erbprinz, on Muster Roll 0/1775 (HETRINA III, #8113-14). I am grateful for the assistance Messrs. Merz, Brooks and others have provided to me via this list. <SNIP>